Ok, so my cousin and I were watching this last night on Adult Swim and we got to talkin' on who would play these characters in a live action film. Assuming we're doing the main story arc from the series, who would play:

Jet
Spike
Fey
Ed
Vicious

I thought Ron Perlman would make a good Jet. What say you, fellow Zoners?

My casting:
Jet - David Keith, I like Perlman too.
Spike - No opinion. I think Johnny Depp or even John Cusack would have been good 10-15 years ago. I just can't think of anyone current that could pull off smug/cocky/cool without it coming off as being fake.
Fey - Milla Jovovich - I'd just love to see her play a character with some personality... some sass if you will.
Ed - Isn't Dakota Fanning still required by law to play all young female roles? I actually think she'd do okay.
Vicious - James Marsters

Milla or Sun playing Fay?!?!? No way, man. Fay needs to be played like a hardcore femme fatale! She needs to ooze sex and sass at all times. Not to mention, you've picked two very .... uh, "thin" actresses to play the most curvacious character in the entire series. Not saying you should cast by breast size, but Faye's confident flaunting of her body is part of her character...so you need someone who can literally fill out the role.

And I do like the idea of Milla for Ed, but she's too old. Perlman is great for Jet. Spike...eh...gotta think about these and get back to y'all.

I like Keira or Portman for Fey. I can not tolerate jovavich, shes' purty enough but she hasn't got even a smidgen of acting talent. I think Jackman is too cardboard outside of wolverine and not convincingly cocky/goofy enough for Spike. Perlman is a really good choice for Jet. I think Spike would have to be sort of e revelation, like if you could make topher Grace cool enough, he's got the acting chops, and can surely play flawed. Maybe they'd simply have to build a steallr cast around an unknown. Any known actor would bring all sorts of baggage to what is really an original role.

While looking for a good Spike, I am amazed to find that Vincent Cassel use to have Spike's exact haircut.

I'd also rather see Johnny Depp play Vicious than Spike. Depp has the range and intensity to really flesh out the role, and it would also be a refreshing change from the nicer parts he's been playing recently.

The Ginger Man wrote:Milla or Sun playing Fay?!?!? No way, man. Fay needs to be played like a hardcore femme fatale! She needs to ooze sex and sass at all times. Not to mention, you've picked two very .... uh, "thin" actresses to play the most curvacious character in the entire series. Not saying you should cast by breast size, but Faye's confident flaunting of her body is part of her character...so you need someone who can literally fill out the role.

she also once stated in a Maxim interview that she kinda likes porn - not in a "traditional" male way - but she figures that if she can have porn with her cable package - it means she has the money to afford to "throw it away" like that and that it is some sort of almost status symbol...

porn, whiskey and the drop dead "talent" that she has... i seem to be at a loss for words...

Your choices for ed have all been too old, imo. Dakota wins by default from the nominations you've put up.
I like the Pearlman suggestion for Jet. I can see Vincent Cassel playing Spike in the physical sense, but can he pull off the character's attitude?
Angelina as Faye would be hot. No contest.
For Vincent... how 'bout Keifer Sutherland?

Just finished re-watching this (I loved it as much as ever), and I figured I'd throw in my choices, even though thinking about a live-action bebop movie is probably just pissing in the wind:

Spike: Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I swear he'd be perfect as Spike. Third Rock from the Sun proved he could do the snarky thing; he's got the rake-thin physique, coupled with mysterious dark looks; and Mysterious Skin proved that he was also one hell of an actor.

Jet: Laurence Fishburne. I know, I know, there'd probably be a load of Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin style racist bitching, but Jet is jet-black in all but skin-colour. Larry would be perfect.

Faye Valentine: Carla Gugino. She looks the part, and I KNOW she'd play the bitchy temptress to perfection. Yeah, I'll stick with her.

Ed: THIS is the toughie. I wouldn't go for a child actress personally. Just take anyone, put 'em on ketamine, and they'll do the job.

seppukudkurosawa wrote:Jet: Laurence Fishburne. I know, I know, there'd probably be a load of Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin style racist bitching, but Jet is jet-black in all but skin-colour. Larry would be perfect.

I can't disagree with that. I think that'd actually be a good fit. On top of that, I'd LOVE to see Fishburne play a role that wasn't so friggin' heavy/serious as this series was mostly cool, fun, and funny with some kickass action inbetween. Fishburne hasn't intentionally made me laugh since the days of Cowboy Curtis.

bastard_robo wrote:Ive come to the conclusion that a live action movie of CB just cant be made. Theres no way it could translate....

Serenity

Naw, Whedon could never do something as cool as Bebop (even though I like the guy). I do think it could be done though, just as long as they don't make it too much like the Fifth Element or something. The thing is with Sci-Fi's is that they sometimes have a tendency to get lost up their own ass, when with Bebop, one of the best things is how the sci-fi doesn't dictate the plot- that and the typically Anime-style drip-feeding of character history. Live-action WOULD make Bebop lose some of its coolness no matter what.

And there's no getting around that last scene in Real Folk Blues. Maybe if they did make the live-action movie, they should do what the other Cowboy Bebop movie did, which is just set it between one of the missions.

I'm happy with what we got though to tell you the truth. 26 perfect "sessions" is cool with me. Not to mention a pretty good movie to boot. I don't think we'll ever get something quite like Bebop again- though Trigun, NGE, Elfen and a few others are all pretty good- and, unlike Naruto, it came and went without outstaying its welcome.

I like the Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Vincent Cassel suggestions for Spike. Ron Perlman isn't a horrible idea for Jet but I'm worried he might look like he just stepped off the set of Ice Pirates. No objections to Miss Cuthbert - in anything - but I bet they ask Biel first.